Award-Winning Doc
Hamptons Doc Fest, which concluded its 17th year on Dec. 11, has announced that “Musica!” has been named winner of the 2024 Brown Harris Stevens Audience Award for best documentary feature.
“This year’s program of 32 films was star-studded, so I congratulate directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman on their outstanding documentary and well-deserved award,” said Jacqui Lofaro, the festival’s founder and executive director.
The film was also selected as the recipient of the festival’s 2024 Art and Inspiration Award, sponsored by the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation. “Musica!” follows several passionate young Cuban musicians, including a pianist, a double-bass player, and a trumpeter, as they work to find success and fulfillment, whether in Cuba or abroad.
Violinist at The Church
Michelle Ross, a violinist and protégée of Itzhak Perlman, will be at The Church Friday afternoon at 5:30 for a performance and a talk about her creative process, including insight into her latest composition, an in-progress piece for solo violin and mixed ensemble.
She will also illuminate how improvisation, electronics, handwritten notations, poetry, and performance all play a part in her work. The presentation will include a selection of handwritten scores, excerpts of audio, and a live performance.
Ms. Ross’s compositions have had world premieres at the Lucerne Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, and the Oregon Symphony’s “Open Music.” She has performed as guest concertmaster with a range of ensembles, including the Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Last season she toured as guest first violinist with the Juilliard String Quartet.
Tickets are $15, $10 for members.
Workshops for Women
The Neo-Political Cowgirls, a nonprofit dance theater company, has scheduled four workshops during January designed to bring multigenerational women together to create art, space, and community. Workshop leaders will take participants on a creative journey, says the company, beginning with “centering and connection” and concluding with “reflection.”
Veronica Mezzina, a textile artist and painter, will kick off the series on Jan. 5, followed by Melora Griffis, a painter, writer, and performer (Jan. 12); Ellen Colcord, a painter and sculptor (Jan. 19), and Yohanna M. Roa, a feminist visual artist and curator (Jan. 26).
The free workshops will be held on Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Springs Presbyterian Church. Registration is by email to [email protected].
Music at the Temple
Next up in Jazz Night at Sag Harbor’s Masonic Temple, presented in partnership with Hamptons JazzFest, is “Uniting Through Music: A Latin Jazz Celebration.” Set for Friday, Dec. 27, at 7 p.m., the program will feature Nabate Isles, trumpet; Hector Martignon, piano; Tony DePaolis, bass, and Claes Brondal, drums.
When doors open at 6:30, guests can buy South Indian vegetarian food from Tapovana Lunch Box to enjoy during the program. The cost of a box is $20; plastic utensils will be available. Concert tickets are $20.
Looking ahead to New Year’s Eve, the HooDoo Loungers will bring their mix of classic soul and New Orleans swing to the temple that evening at 9:30. Tickets are $30 in advance, $40 the day of the party.
Garden Book Group
The book group of the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons will have its winter meeting via Zoom on Saturday at 11 a.m. The format typically features three books selected and described by a member of the alliance, often with accompanying slides.
This month’s books are “E.A. Bowles & his Garden at Myddelton House (1865-1954)” by Mea Allan, presented by Sue Brackett; “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants,” by Robin Wall Kimmerer, presented by Laurie Gibbs, and “The Wild Garden: Expanded Edition” by William Robinson and Rick Darke, presented by Scott Sottile.
Members will receive a link via email; nonmembers can receive the link at no charge by registering at hahgarden.org/tickets.
The alliance has also announced that due to a scheduling conflict, April Gonzalez, a garden designer based in Southampton, was not able to deliver her December lecture, “The American Chestnut,” in person. However, it has been pre-recorded and is available to watch online. A link can be found on the website’s home page.
